In the wake of the news.

Dunbar Penalties Lead Irish To Not So Sacred Ground

Only if the Committee on Infractions implicated Davie might Notre Dame officials have had an excuse to fire him with four years left on his contract.

But according to information obtained by the Tribune's Malcolm Moran, no coach on the current staff was found guilty of any wrongdoing associated with the Kim Dunbar affair. Three members of the previous staff, including head coach Lou Holtz, are being held responsible for Notre Dame's first major NCAA violation.

Yet this landmark case will bring a "major" ruling with what those who don't bleed Irish green will consider minor penalties. The Irish football program will lose some lifeblood--perhaps five scholarships a year for two years, along with reduced recruiting visits by high-school players and Notre Dame coaches. Otherwise, this looks like a wrist-slap disguised as a face-slap.

At worst, perhaps, Notre Dame has been sentenced to four more years of Bob Davie--almost the same as a bowl ban.

But the committee's slow-as-Christmas ruling came down mostly to image--the committee's and Notre Dame's.

The committee's dilemma: It wanted to avoid the easily condemned appearance of letting NBC's Team off easy. Yet it struggled to be fair with evidence that would prompt no rival athletic director to scream for maximum penalties.

So the committee basically saved face by blacking Notre Dame's eye.

It hit the Notre Dame of Rockne and Leahy where it lives, right in the Golden Dome. It tarnished the football program's holier-than-thou image. It turned Notre Dame into just another school that got caught.

The "death penalty" now hangs over its swelled head for five years.

The program that always set itself apart from--if not above--the rest of college football now comes off as just a bunch of Rudys. Touchdown Jesus? Just stained glass, emphasis on stained. Mute the echoes. The Four Horsemen hide again. Jeer, jeer, at old Notre Dame.

Yet some relieved Notre Dame officials will wonder just how much more you can batter the image of a South Bend school that had already been turned into a scandal-ridden Southfork. From a groupie's spending sprees with embezzled funds to former assistant coach Joe Moore's age discrimination trial--Touchdown Judas--Notre Dame's dirty laundry had been stretched from here to the National Enquirer. How much worse can it get?

No what hurts Notre Dame worst is losing.

The committee no longer takes away bowls or television exposure when meting out "majors." It cuts scholarships from the 25 a year allowed and maximum 85 per program. If you think this year's 5-7 team was embarrassing by Irish standards, imagine if Davie were hit with a University of Miami-style penalty of eight or nine scholarships a year for three years.

But coming off two recruiting classes judged to be in the nation's top five, Notre Dame's talent level probably can survive the loss of five or so a year for two years. With about six weeks left before signing day, Davie's staff no longer has to fight the whispers of rival recruiters that he could be fired or Notre Dame could be banned from bowls and TV.

The Irish did get off pretty easy.

Yet it's unfair to severely penalize a program for the actions of one woman whose only known connection was the $25 she paid to join the since-disbanded Quarterback Club. The committee found that former coaches knew enough about Dunbar's exploits with a number of players to have further investigated and put a stop to them.

Of course the worst case would've been a coach or booster channeling money through her to systematically pay players and fulfill recruiting promises. But Dunbar was convicted of embezzling a half million bucks. Apparently she acted alone. Her relationships gave Notre Dame no recruiting edge.

But as minor as Notre Dame's "major" might seem, it will send shock waves to ADs and coaches everywhere who must make their student-athletes aware that life just changed. If for example a football player dates an alum's daughter, an extravagant Christmas gift from her could be ruled an illegal inducement.

Let's just hope the Irish don't try to spin this into a lesson-teaching achievement. They were lucky once more.